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Real English Subtitles

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chaosapiant

chaosapiant

Senior user
#1
Jul 8, 2013
Real English Subtitles

I do not know a lick of Polish, but I DO know that I prefer the Polish VOs to their English counterparts. However, the English subtitles do not seem to correspond directly with what is being said in Polish. Are there any mods to make the English subtitles actually reflect was is truly being spoken in Polish?

Thank you!
 
S

Sirnaq

Rookie
#2
Jul 8, 2013
I believe that direct translation from polish to english wouldn't make any sense. I mean literally, polish language has completely different wordings and word order but in english version of the tw2 meaning is pretty much the same.
 
chaosapiant

chaosapiant

Senior user
#3
Jul 8, 2013
The Wither 2 seems solid but I am referring to the first game.
 
K

Kindo.824

Forum veteran
#4
Jul 8, 2013
Unfortunately, it's standard when it comes to these things to simply transcribe the voice-overs from the corresponding language, rather than making yet another translation for those of us who wants the VA's of the original language, but subtitled because we won't understand it otherwise. Localisation is more than simply translating word-for-word what's being said or written; it's also about re-constructing sentences to sound more natural in any given language, and about making away with specific phrases and what not that simply do not translate into another language. Sometimes want to add some flair to it, that's more typical to the target language, but this usually present itself in the form of dialects and such.

If the localisation is well-made and done by a talented person (or persons) who know all the idiosyncrasies of both respective languages, you can end up with a result that is far beyond what we've unfortunately come to expect from seeing this practice in the past. Japanese games suffer more than most, and are relatively rarely respectable when the process is finished. The Witcher-games are a bit uneven, although the English versions of both games definitely are good, most of the time. I understand perfectly what you mean, though; it would be great for people like you and me if there was an additional translation available, that basically tries to convey more or less exactly what is being said in the original Polish, in English text. It would look weird to most others, however, and it would also mean extra work for CDPR (or the people they hire to help them with this).

Subtitles in games are normally meant to be in the same language as the voices are, and are there to help some people better follow along with what is being said. What you're requesting would be catering only to a niche of the audience, and as much as I'd love to see it, myself, I understand why it's not normal business practice. Fan-translations might not be entirely out of the question, though. I've never seen it in games, but if you look at Japanese animé, for example, you'll notice that fan-made subtitles are more direct translations, complete with notes and explanations for those cases where a translation wouldn't work, and why. It's pretty neat, actually, and perfect if you're really serious about the language - wanting to learn - but are unable to follow along without English subtitles to help you.
 
chaosapiant

chaosapiant

Senior user
#5
Jul 10, 2013
I see your point, and agree with you. I guess i'm looking for something more in the middle. I know we can't have a direct word for word translation, because that would not make sense. But I WOULD like something closer. Like when Geralt says "biiv eye" every single time he leaves a conversation, but the text is like "farewell, have a good evening, good bye, see you later, caio!" And I realize I did not spell that Polish word at all...but that's what my ears hear.

Another example is when getting on the boat between the docks and the swamp. Polish Geralt just says "tak" which I assume means yes when being asked if he's ready to go. But English Geralt, and subsequenly his subtitles say something to the effect of "I wouldn't have asked otherwise." It's like the scene in Wayne's World where he's speaking Cantonese to Cassandra.

Regardless, I truly appreciate the time and effort into your post, thank yoU!
 
Shavod

Shavod

Wordrunner
#6
Jul 10, 2013
chaosapient@

That's a shame that they didn't find a consistent replacement for "bywaj" (biiv eye), because in polish fandom it it one of the most famous of Geralt catchphrases and reached memetic level of "I should go" from Mass Effect. Even I started to using it as a form of goodbye in real life, despite that it is oldfashioned.
 
D

darcler

Senior user
#7
Jul 10, 2013
Sadly, dialogue-wise English version has been truncated and simplified, but AFAIK there is no mod here.

If memory serves me right, the issue has been discussed on the forum, some (very long) time ago. Devs were saying something about not really knowing how to translate the more floral texts from Polish into somewhat more strict English.
 
chaosapiant

chaosapiant

Senior user
#8
Jul 10, 2013
wojto16 said:
chaosapient@

That's a shame that they didn't find a consistent replacement for "bywaj" (biiv eye), because in polish fandom it it one of the most famous of Geralt catchphrases and reached memetic level of "I should go" from Mass Effect. Even I started to using it as a form of goodbye in real life, despite that it is oldfashioned.
Click to expand...
Well...when you put it THAT way, I can tolerate it now. I didn't realize it was actually a "thing" that that's all he says when leaving conversations, and "I should go" is a classic meme that is actually funny.
 
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